It’s easiest to culture BSF where they are natives, probably not the case in zone 4. In hot weather you should be able to raise a generation through at least one generation, but keeping them in the winter would require some special effort. Breeding them in cold areas is highly specialized.

I expect this topic will be discussed quite a bit at our new forum as more people join.

I’m glad you learned about BSF, but keep in mind that the larvae you’re seeing could very easily be other fly species and not BSF. Starting from the time you make the food waste available it would take BSF larvae one or two weeks to become obvious in most cases. It takes four days just for the eggs to hatch and then several more before the tiny new larvae are large enough to see easily. Many common pest flies like house flies and bottle flies develop through the egg and larval stages much more quickly. In the case of bottle/blow flies the larvae even get about the same size as BSF so identifying them can take a little practice. It sounds like you’ve seen BSF adults around your place so even if the larvae weren’t BSF after all it should be easy for you to get started in Texas when the weather warms up.

My guess is that the worms don’t attract the BSF, but the food you’re giving to the worms does attract them.

If you do see BSF in your area please try to get photos. Colorado doesn’t seem to be a likely place for BSF, but you never know. Keep in mind that there are over 100,000 species of flies, so the presence of fly larvae in a worm bin isn’t conclusive. BSF would be one of the more likely species I would expect to see in a worm bin, but the altitude in Colorado brings it into doubt. We’re still learning a lot about BSF and if you can get a positive ID up in the mountains it might be helpful.

Here is a quote from Robert at ProtaCulture, the distributor for BioPods. Robert has worked with BSF for years and helped design the BioPod:

So How do you know if you have a native population?

1) If there are grubs present in compost bins, worm bins, outdoor toilets, etc at any time during the year

2) Hardiness zone 9 – 10: Presence should be year round, although it’s always harder to get a colony started when average minimum temperatures drop below 55 degrees.

3) Hardiness zone 5-8: Do not attempt to start a colony during winter time. Most people should start a colony from the end of april to summer. The colder you local minimum temperatures the later in the year. ( a good indicator is to ask a local honey bee farmer around what time of year the honey bees get active and leave the hive)

4) Check your local weather service and find out what the minimum average temperature is for your zipcode. Although you might be in the correct hardiness zone, local microclimate conditions might be colder then 55 degrees.

5) Check your altitude … Although possible, native adult grubs are hard to observe at altitudes above 5000 ft (1500 meters)

Source: http://thebiopod.com/forum/index.php?topic=110.0

I am in Colorado and have been Vermicomposting for one year. I didn’t think that we had BSF here or maybe just not in the city (Denver) BUT………………

I remember last summer I gave a friend of mine a small ‘demo’ vermicomposting bucket and in a few weeks he had ‘maggots’ …so sad I didn’t know what they were.

Anyways, I remembered all of this last night and added a small box of worms and protective food-bedding (cardboard, coir and fall leafs) to my ‘bait box’ that has been out for about 4 days.

I would really like to purchase and distribute the BioPod! I wonder how farmers would respond to having a ‘traveling decompiculture expert’ work at the farm for a few weeks setting up systems…

not that I’m an expert…….yet!

I haven’t done any research on keeping the larvae from pupating. My guess is that it would be possible by keeping them at fairly low temperatures relative to their optimal growth/development temps. The problem with refrigeration is that it normally creates too dry of an environment compared to the 70%+ that BSF need. It’s also important to provide sufficient air.

I believe Dr. Olivier has recommended small wood shavings or sawdust as a bedding material for the BioPod collection bucket. In that case it helps keep the mature prepupal larvae dry enough that they can’t easily escape the bucket and it gives them something to hide in. If you want to store juvenile larvae you’ll need to keep them moist. It seems sawdust would also be good for that purpose but I’m not certain.

If I learn something that might help you out I’ll send you an email.

Jerry

I was wondering how can I tell the maggots apart, BSF from house flies?